Vacation Report: Day Three #1

After a good night's sleep and a slightly later start than usual, this was The Day. The Big One. The Coop-Dee-Gracee. And we started the day in Preston, ID home of... drum roll please... Napoleon Dynamite!
Of the many glorious sites on our list, we saw:
Preston High School
Napoleon's House
Pedro's House
And we even ate at Big J Burger where Uncle Rico and Kip make their business plans (even though the original building was torn down to build the new and improved version)
Yeah, it looks pretty sweet. It looks awesome. That suit, it's... it's incredible.
How could it possibly get any better, you ask? Just wait! There's more! This was just the beginning of our day!

Hunter's Photography

Hunter went on a downtown OKC photography shoot on June 6 -- capturing the Red Earth Festival Parade and downtown sites. You can see his photographs here:

Hunter's Photo Gallery

Vacation Report: Day Two #5

Along the way through Wyoming, we saw an alternate route to get us to our final stop for the day, Logan, UT, so we thought we'd change our route around a little, just to relieve the monotony of the interstate. This was to be known as Mistake Number One. Along this route was a little town named:
This was also the point where Melissa discovered Fry Sauce at the Arctic Circle burger joint in Diamondville, WY. It's basically mayo and ketchup mixed together, but folks in UT and areas nearby swear by the stuff, and now so does Melissa!

I was in charge of navigating (also known as Mistake Number Two) and unbeknownst to all weary travelers concerned, Wyoming doesn't post highway signs along their state highways. To make a long story short (too late I know) we ended up in Idaho a day earlier than scheduled and a stretch of road that should have taken an hour and a half took... well, far longer than we would have liked! We landed in Beaver Mountain Pass in the Cache National Forest North of Logan where we saw our first June snow up close! It wouldn't be the last, though!




Then after a long and winding mountain road that seemed to repeat in an endless loop like an episode of the Twilight Zone we finally arrived in Logan, late, frustrated and tired! Tuesday June 3 seemed like one of the longest days of the year! But there's no rest for the weary and Wednesday promised to include even more to see and do!

Vacation Report: Day Two #4

This Fall when Cassie's teacher turns to her and asks, "What did you do on your summer vacation, Cassie?" she can grit her teeth, give the teacher a glassy stare, and intone in a gravelly voice, "Me? I went to prison."

But not just any prison! The former Wyoming State Penitentiary in Rawlins, home to the Wyoming Frontier Prison Museum. Melissa has a morbid fascination with prisons and prison culture, so when we found this museum on our route it became a must-see.



We toured the entire facility which closed as a working hooskow in 1981. See Death Row! See the gas chamber! See the lunch room! It was all very fascinating.




As an extra bonus this site became our compulsory Lord of the Rings connection. We had unknowlingly stumbled upon the filming location for a B-grade horror flick with the mind-bogglingly creative name of Prison starring none other than Aragorn himself: Viggo Mortenson! Unfortunately (or fortunately as the case may be) this 1988 B-grade horror flick isn't available on DVD at the moment but some clips can be found online. But, how bad can it be with the future King of Gondor as the star!



To think, Melissa was closed up in the same solitary confinement cell as Viggo! It was simply meant to be!

Vacation Report: Day Two #3

Welcome to Wyoming! We'll also be revisiting Wyoming later in the trip, but the Northern stretch is much more scenic! As far as I-80 crossing the Southern portion of the state goes, there's a lot of road and a lot of nothing much else... except:
The Ames Monument is a pyramid built out in the middle of nowhere, on a stretch of dirt road off the main highway. Originally constructed as something to look at from the train when the railroad cut it's way across the country, when the highway came along the tracks were moved and now it stands starkly alone on the breezy hilly countryside.

Not far down I-80 you'll find the giant disembodied head of a former president watching over you like some giant disembodied head of a former president. I've had nightmares similar to this. It's The Lincoln Monument, between Laramie and Cheyenne and it's a giant disembodied head of a former president. There's not much more one can say.

Vacation Report: Day Two #2

What was intended to be a quick side-of-the-road photo opportunity turned into one of the most pleasant surprises of the trip: The Swetsville Zoo!

Frommers.com says:

Don't come to Bill Swets's zoo expecting to find animals -- not live ones, that is. The sculpture park is a constantly growing menagerie of more than 150 dinosaurs and other real and imaginary animals, flowers, and windmills -- all constructed from car parts, farm machinery, and other scrap metal. The whimsical nature of the sculptures is a delight for kids as well as adults.

Each piece was an amazing amalgam of rusty bits and pieces welded together to create something that looked like it could turn its head and walk off at any moment. Truly a must-see for anyone with kids passing through northern Colorado! Rocky Mountains? Pshaw!

We may not know much about art... but we know The Swetsville Zoo was awesome!

Vacation Report: Day Two #1

From Limon we made our way through the outskirts of Denver (tolls cost us $6.75 to go about 25 miles!) to the suburb of Lafayette, CO where we ended up where any summer vacationing tourists might end up: the cemetery! Yes we were in search of the supposed gravesite of an actual vampire! It could be identified as such by the haggard tree growing up right where the wooden stake was planted in his heart! The hoary rosebushes that sprouted on either side grew from the vampire's clawlike fingernails!

After getting dowsed by the sprinkler system and a fruitless search for the gravesite we finally decided to go for broke and just ask the caretaker. We have no pride. But to our surprise he said, "Sure, I know where it is!" and led us straight to it! Almost apologetically he explained they'd cut down the rose bushes and cleaned up the site. But the tree remains.In the end we just felt sorry for the fellow buried there. A Transylvanian immigrant named Theodore Glava, simply by virtue of his country of origin, has been labeled as an evil blood-sucking monster. The Denver library lists a Theodore Glava born 1877 registered for the draft in Boulder during WW1.God bless you Mr. Glava!

Vacation Report: Day One #4

Next on our arduous trek was a quick stop by the World's Tallest Mennonite in Newton, KS. This part of the world is definitely Mennonite country with horse-drawn buggies and Mennonite churches as prominent as any other denomination.

The Kansas Travel and Tourism website has this to say about the statue:

The tallest, sturdiest Mennonite in Kansas stands 17 feet tall in Athletic Park. He is the Mennonite Settler Statue built in 1942 out of Kansas limestone. The Mennonite statue was not a Mennonite-initiated project. The statue was financed through contributions of wheat as a joint project of a local Newton community drive and a Works Progress Administration (WPA) art project. Max Nixon was the sculptor of the Mennonite Settler.

We just thought it was cool. Speaking of cool...

Christmas in June? Whodathunk we'd make it all the way to the North Pole on our little expedition. But this version is in Wakeeney, KS. Though it was 80-some-odd degrees here, we'll be seeing much cooler temps later on the trip!

We were a little early but around Christmas time we hear this place really lights up. They install over 6000 lights and a 35-foot manmade Christmas tree all in the space of a single downtown lot.

After this quick pitstop it was the long haul across the barren plains of west Kansas. Our first night was spent in Limon, CO. One day down, five to go!

Vacation Report: Day One #3.5

Caught this guy along the side of the highway between Wichita and Salina. That's the second biggest chimney sweep I've ever seen!

Vacation Report: Day One #3

Our primary stop for the first day was the Museum of World Treasures in downtown Wichita, KS which houses among other things: a piece of the Berlin Wall, a tyrannosaurus named Ivan, Egyptian mummies, a shrunken head and the scalp of Custer's nephew! The museum is part Ripley's Believe It Or Not! and part Smithsonion Institute with its hodge podge of weird and wonderful artifacts.Custer's Nephew's Scalp
After the museum we say "Goodbye" to Wichita and move on down the road!

Vacation Report: Day One #2

Located in scenic Riverside Park in Wichita, KS, next to the yoga practicing flag corps (at least they were there when we went) one can find a set of great standing stones reminiscent of mighty Stonehenge. In fact it is a solar calendar, very similar to the more famous English landmark. On the Solstice and Equinox days of the year the noonday sun supposedly shoots through a large metal eye perched atop one of the stones and illuminates different colored glass stones embedded in the ground. Our timing being slightly off (as seems our lot) we missed any spectacular display. But it makes one anticipate another more timely roadtrip, just to see if it really works! We can, however, imagine having to wade through a crowd of candle-carrying Wiccans and new-age dudes in tie-dyed shirts in order to see anything when the time comes!

Vacation Report: Day One #1

We're back from the Great Potato Run of '08 commonly known as our vacation. Along with our honorary Duncan Ashley P., we made a whirlwind tour of 7 different states! This week I'll be posting highlights from the trip, so sit back and pretend you're riding in the van on a seemingly endless trip across our great country. See the sights. Hear the stories. Smell the smells. You know the ones... coming from the back seat after days on the road!

Picture it: Monday June 2, 2008. Wichita, KS. Our first stop brings us to a host of statues on the streets scattered higgledy-piggledy, depicting everyday ordinary people and animals doing everyday ordinary tasks. But in one city square a larger scene plays out. The counter at a diner reminiscent of an old-time soda shop.


In fact here's what Wikipedia says about it:

The first organized lunch-counter sit-in for the purpose of integrating segregated establishments began in July 1958 in Wichita Kansas at Dockum Drugs, a store in the old Rexall chain. In early August the drugstore became integrated. A few weeks later on August 19, 1958 in Oklahoma City a nationally recognized sit-in at the Katz Drug Store lunch counter occurred. It was led by NAACP youth leader Clara Luper, a local high school teacher, and local students. It took years but she and her students integrated Oklahoma City eating establishments. Today, in downtown Wichita, Kansas, a statue depicting a waitress at a counter serving people honors the sit-in.

On The Road Again!

Despite the quickly rising prices for gas, we're still planning the Great Roadtrip of 2008 beginning Monday June 2. We'll be making various classic roadtrip stops, including the Scalp of Custer's Nephew in Wichita, Lincoln's Head in Laramie, Wyoming and the World's Tallest Mennonite but we'll also be stopping by a little place called Mt. Rushmore where some kook sculpted some Presidents' heads. But the highlight of the trip is Preston, Idaho where one of the greatest movies of all time was filmed: Napoleon Dynamite.

When we get back we'll be updating everyone on the sights and sounds of the trip here on the blog. It'll be like you went with us. Except you won't have to pay for the gas...

Random Image of the Week #1

Cassie & Friends... in 3D! You'll have to get your 3D glasses for this one!

Hey Batta Batta Batta!

On May 17 Nici wrote:

Cooper had his first t-ball game this morning! Crazy he's old enough to be playing sports!! It was pretty cute. No one knew what they were doing and all the kids were running to the wrong bases and fighting over the ball. Just wanted to share some pics! Hope everyone is doing well.

Factoid of the Day!

There are only 12 letters in the Hawaiian alphabet.

Congratulations Alex!

Image provided by soonerguys.com!

Dance Revolution!

Cassie Rocks! That's all there is to it. Alcott Middle School had their Spring Choir concert Friday night and Cassie Duncan was one of the highlights as she performed the Tutti Frutti ala Little Richard, Michael Jackson's Thriller and the robot to Mr. Roboto! I taught her everything she knows...

Best Comic Movie Ever?

Could Iron Man, the newest live-action movie release from Marvel Studios, be the best comic book movie adaptation of all time? In order to take claim to one of the grandest no-prizes of them all, it would have to best among others: Spiderman (2002), X-Men (2000), Batman (1989) and (some would say the grand-daddy of them all) Superman (1978) starring Christopher Reeve. Comic book movies have been rather hit and miss throughout their fairly long cinematic history (Captain America appeared on the big screen as early as 1944 not to mention pulp magazine's The Shadow, et al). I was sorely disappointed in the recent attempts at bringing my favorites from childhood to the filmgoing public, the Fantastic Four. Sure, they were fun movies, and the sequel did a great job at portraying the cosmic Silver Surfer, but in the end they missed the mark. Don't even get me started on the Surfer's boss, Galactus!

Perhaps my allegiance to the Fantastic Four was its ultimate downfall. Since the movie-makers didn't match my ideal FF - they were doomed to fail. Maybe that's why I loved Iron Man so much. Yeah, I was a comic book geek as a kid - and a Marvel Comics comic book geek to boot - but Iron Man was never one of my favorites. I pretty much stuck with the FF. So I don't know what they messed up in the new film adaptation starring Robert Downey Jr. in the title role. Ignorance is bliss and Iron Man rocks!

Downey plays a perfectly greasy Tony Stark, military arms manufacturer and billionaire playboy who finds a conscience after being kidnapped by terrorists. He wreaks vengeance on the evildoers in the most awesomest costume/machinery ever. Tony Stark is Iron Man.

Is it better than the Fantastic Four? Tons! Spiderman? Obviously! X-men? Batman? Easily! But is Robert Downey Jr. in titanium alloy armor better than Christopher Reeve in spandex? All I can say is: Go see Iron Man and find out for yourself!

Graduation

Alex is graduating on Friday, May 9, at 7 pm at the University of Oklahoma Memorial Stadium; and also participating in the College of Arts and Sciences convocation at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, May 10. He will receive his B.A. in Economics. Ya'll come to whatever you can.

(The above photograph depicts the current college graduate attire -- a "business casual" of sorts).

Garfield Minus Garfield

If you want to see something downright hilarious and yet depressing and macabre at the same time, check out Garfield Minus Garfield in which the old standby Garfield comics are reproduced... without Garfield. Jon, his owner, comes across as a sad manic-depressive schizophrenic... a hilariously sad manic-depressive schizophrenic!

Thanks to Sam at work for directing us to this one!

Factoid of the Day!

The plastic things on the end of shoelaces are called aglets.

I'm Still Here! Where are you?

This blog runs hot and cold! We do a fairly good job of keeping up appearances for a couple of months and then it's silent for months on end! Well, I'm going at it again. If nothing else, I'm planning on posting a ridiculously random image at least every week! So keep an eye out for future posts and add something yourselves!

BTW - check out the Daily Pressman at digitalgraphicsinc.net. I work nights - and when it gets late I tend to doodle...

Hello?

Is there anybody out there?

Either life's been way too busy or we just stink at this blog thing!

Labor Day Labors

Over Labor Day weekend, we made a trip to see the Lawton clan and did some clamboring over the rocks on top of Mt. Scott. Thought we'd share some photos of the trip!

Wilburton, OK: Est. 312 million years ago!

My job seems to either run hot or cold, feast or famine. I'm either struggling to get everything done or there's nothing to do at all. On those dry days, when I'm left to my own machinations, I participate in that tried and true time-killer: web-surfing. With no real destination in mind, in a stream of consciousness kind of way, I ride the world wide web waves of information, looking for meaningless bits of trivia, mindless yet entertaining video clips and the like. I invariably find myself searching the standard repository of all knowledge and wisdom - Wikipedia. That generally sets me off somewhere else and so forth.

Today was just such a day and here's one nugget I found in my meaderings that peaked my interest:

Iron Cup from Oklahoma Coal Mine, 312 million years old.

On November 27, 1948 the following statement was made by Frank J. Kenwood in Sulphur Springs, Arkansas. "While I was working in the Municipal Electric Plant in Thomas, Oklahoma in 1912, I came upon a solid chunk of coal which was too large to use. I broke it with a sledge hammer. This iron pot fell from the center leaving the impression mould of the pot in the piece of coal. Jim Stall (an employee of the company) witnessed the breaking of the coal, and saw the pot fall out. I traced the source of the coal, and found that it came from the Wilburton, Oklahoma, Mines. According to Robert O. Fay of the Oklahoma Geological Survey, the Wilburton mine coal is about 312 million years old. What advanced civilization or visitor was creating or using iron pots in our past more than 300 million years ago?

Has anyone heard of this before? I thought the only "mystery artifact" in Oklahoma was the Heavener Runestone - but looks like Wilburton has its own with this iron pot. It's news to me! 60 year old news, but news nonetheless!

Talking Cat

Factoid of the Day!

Cats have over one hundred vocal sounds, while dogs only have about ten.